World Briefs

CHINA-GERMANY Beijing recognizes European concerns about overcapacity in its steel sector, but believes that is a symptom of the falloff in global demand, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang says to visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

CHINA 29-year-old inveterate gambler is the main suspect in a small explosion at Shanghai’s main international airport that injured four people, police say.

JAPAN Four people foraging for edible wild plants or bamboo shoots were killed in bear attacks in a small area of northern Japan in three weeks, police said yesterday, and authorities are warning people to take precautions. The bodies of the three men and one woman had bites and scratches presumably made by “a large animal,” police said.

THAILAND A domestic airline in Thailand apologizes after three friends of a pilot joked in a group chat about crashing the plane he was going to fly with former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on board.

PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN Pakistani and Afghan border guards exchange gunfire at a crossing between the two countries, leaving one guard dead and 17 wounded on both sides, officials say.

SINGAPORE A kiss between two male actors has been removed from a production of the musical “Les Miserables” in Singapore following complaints from the public. The city-state’s Media Development Authority told the show’s organizer that the “General” rating it had given the show was based on a script that did not include the same-sex kiss, local media reports said.

USA The father of the Orlando nightclub shooter is calling his son’s massacre “the act of a terrorist.” Seddique Mir Mateen gave a statement to reporters and answered a few questions Monday at his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Yesterday [Macau time], the father suggested that his son’s anti-gay hatred may have led to the rampage, saying his son got angry a few months ago when he saw two men kissing in Miami.

USA A senior American official reaffirmed White House support for a treaty banning nuclear testing worldwide and urged other countries to move it toward its long-delayed enactment despite the “domestic political obstacles” keeping her country from ratifying it. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller’s comments at a meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty underlined some of the obstacles keeping the treaty from being activated.